Portuguese Beef Stew is just a Tender, Delicate Mouthful of Goodness. With Tender Stewing Beef & Chunky Vegetables. Serve with some Buttered Dinner Rolls.
Carne Guisada (Portuguese Beef Stew) is an extremely simple and very tasty dish that will Make Your Belly Smile. It’s not really a stew, but more of a goulash. The same ingredients that go into a Chourico are used in the Stew.
Great for cold winter months or on a Sunday evening. Where you can just have everything ready to go. Place it on the heat, let it cook, and walk away. Come back once in a while to check on it, but it practically cooks itself.
Credits
Many Thanks to Gabriela & Carolina Dias for not only introducing me to this dish and making My Belly Smile. But sharing with me how to make it, so I can have it at home anytime. This will definitely become a regular.
Portuguese Beef Goulash
The beautiful thing about this stew is that it’s not really a stew. Not in the sense where the vegetables are sitting in a thickened liquid.
Instead, the vegetables are lifted from the small amount of liquid and served in a bowl like a Goulash. The Vegetables are soft to the bite with very tender meat and loaded with flavor throughout both the Vegetables & Meat. Served with Buttered Bread or Dinner Rolls. It’s just Hearty & Extremely Satisfying, and it’s easy too.
Portuguese Beef Stew Ingredients
Fat
Use Olive Oil, Lard, Butter, or rendered Beef Fat/Beef Suet to sauté the vegetables. The Chourico Sausage will also contribute Fat as the Stew is simmering.
Onion & Garlic
The dish starts with diced or sliced Onions and chopped Garlic, Sauteed in Fat.
Stewing Meat
1 lb. of Stewing Beef cut into bite-size along with 1-2 Chourico Sausages (Mild or Spicy), left whole or chopped up. The Chourico Sausage really contributes to the overall flavor.
The larger the Chunk of Beef, the longer it will take simmering to achieve tender softened meat, generally around 1–2 hours of a gentle simmer.
Some will marinate the meat with the Wine & Tomato Paste refrigerated overnight and then add it to the Onions & Garlic to cook a bit before the liquids go in to simmer.
Visit your local Portuguese Store to pick up the Chourico Sausages as well as the Pimento Paste. These are well worth it.
Homemade Chourico Sausage
I have come up with my own version of Portuguese Chourico Sausages and these are really good too! I spent a long time trying to get these as close as the kind I buy at Unboxed Market. Which really are the best you can find. So now instead of buying the Chourico Sausages, I make my own.
Marinated Chourico Meat
Marinate the meat for 24 hours and add the desired amount of it for this recipe. Just the same as using Chourico Sausages. Any leftovers can be skewered for Chourico Kebabs or portioned and frozen to make this dish or Kebabs at a later time. As well as any recipe where Chourico Sausages are used.
Beef Stew Paste
The Beef Stew Paste is a combination of Tomato Paste, Portuguese Pimento Paste (Mild or Hot), Sea Salt, and Paprika. Combine and mix well in a small bowl and add to the pot after the meat has cooked for a bit.
The paste adds a bit of thickness and Flavor from the Pimento Paste & Paprika. It also creates a fond on the bottom of the pan that is picked up by the Wine & Water.
Pimento Paste
The recipe below uses Sweet Pimento Paste. Hot Pimento paste can be used instead for a spicier dish. But add this to taste since it can get really spicy. Especially if you’re adding spicy Chourico Sausages too.
Paste Mix
- 2 Tbl of Sweet Pimento Paste
- or use Hot Pimento Paste to taste for spicy
- 2 Tbl Tomato Paste & Paprika
- 1 tsp Sea Salt
Portuguese Beef Stew Liquids
Wine
Use about 1 Cup of either a Red or White Wine. Exchange the Alcohol with Beef Broth if you’d prefer to not use any alcohol for the stew.
The type is entirely up to you, if it tastes good to drink, it will taste good to cook with.
Water
Add water to blend the flavors and simmer everything. Add more water if needed when it comes time to add the Potatoes & Carrots. You want the liquid to barely cover. Optionally exchange the water for Beef Broth.
Potatoes & Carrots
White Potatoes or Golden Yukon work really well. Although, you can use any kind of Potatoes.
Peel the Potatoes & Carrots. Quarter the Potatoes and slice the Carrots into about 1/4 inch thick. Add them to a bowl and cover with water until ready to use.
If the Potatoes are large, slice them in half lengthwise and half again lengthwise, and then chop into cubes.
Strain and add to the stew after the meat is tender. Then simmer for about 20 minutes until just tender. Remove the pot from the heat and let rest covered for 20 minutes. Which will further cook the vegetables until very tender, at the same time cooling the stew down and allowing the flavor in the liquid to permeate the vegetables.
Portuguese Beef Stew Seasoning
This recipe uses Paprika, Bay Leaves, and Sea Salt as added seasoning and relies on the Chourico Sausages, Paste, and Wine for Flavor.
Add additional ingredients according to your taste. Add Allspice or Portuguese Allspice, Chili Flakes, Cumin & Cinnamon.
Portuguese Allspice Blend
There is also an Allspice Blend that is called Portuguese Allspice. This is not the same as the Spice Allspice. This varies and can contain very few or numerous ingredients. Such as Paprika, Oregano, Parsley, Cumin, Chili Powder, Cinnamon, Bay Leaves, Allspice, Lemon Zest, Orange Zest, Clove, Nutmeg, Ginger.
A simple Portuguese Allspice blend is listed below.
- 1/4 C Sweet Paprika
- 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric
- 1/4 tsp Ground Orange Rind.
Portuguese Beef Stew Addins
Add in extra ingredients as you see fit.
- Green Peas
- Cumin or Cinnamon
- Clove
- Bacon with the rendered fat
- Parsley
- Beef Broth
- Waxed Beans
- Peppers
- Tomatoes
Portuguese Beer Stew
Everything remains the same, just exchange the Wine with Beer for a Portuguese Beer Stew.
Equipment
- 1 Stockpot
- 1 Large Bowl for the carrots and potatoes
- 1 Small Bowl for the paste
Ingredients
- 1 lb Stewing Beef
- 1-2 Mild Chourico Sausages - or Hot, Whole or Chopped
- 1 C Wine - White, Red, or Beer
- 3 C Water
- 1 lb Potatoes - Quartered
- 1/2 lb Carrots - Peeled & Sliced 1/4 inch
- 1/4 C Green Peas
- 1 Large Onion - Diced or Sliced
- 3-5 Cloves Garlic - Chopped
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 2 Tbl Fat - Olive Oil, Lard, Butter or Beef Suet
- 2 Tbl Paprika
- 2 Tbl Tomato Paste
- 2 Tbl Sweet Pimento Paste - or Hot for spicy
- 1 tsp Sea Salt
Instructions
- Prepare the Potatoes & Carrots and place them into a bowl with water to cover. Keep them here until ready to use. In a small bowl, combine Tomato Paste, Pimento Paste, Paprika, and Salt. Set this aside.
- Sauté Onions & Garlic in a pan with Fat over medium heat until softened. Add Meat & Whole or Sliced Chourico Sausage and cook for a few minutes. Add paste mixture and cook for 30 seconds.Then add Wine, Water, Bay Leaves and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low, cover and simmer for 1 – 2 hours or until the meat is very tender.
- Increase the heat to medium. Strain the Carrots & Potatoes and mix them into the stew, add water if needed, cover, and simmer until the Vegetables are just tender, about 20 minutes. Add the Green Peas. Remove from heat and leave covered to rest for about 20 minutes. Add more salt if needed and serve.